Special Naval Service
The Special Naval Service'' ''is the special force of'' ''the Royalist Kingdom Navy. '''''Together with the Royal Special Service (RSS) and the 101st Royal Parachute Brigade they form the ''Ground Special Warfare (GSW) and come under joint control of the same Royal War Office. The '''Special Naval Service is manned by ranks drawn mostly from the Corps of Her Majesty's Royalist Marines and carries out a role similar to the Royal Special Service (RSS), but with a traditionally stronger focus on amphibious operations. Two of the SNS's four squadrons, C and X, are configured for general operations. S squadron specialises in the use of minisubs and small boats and M squadron specialises in Maritime Counter Terrorism. Their main tasks include intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism operations (surveillance or offensive action), sabotage and the disruption of enemy infrastructure, capture of specific individuals, close protection of senior politicians and military personnel, plus reconnaissance and combat action on enemy territory. The teams have been utilized almost exclusively for land-based operations, including Direct Action, Hostage Rescue, Counter Terrorism,Special Reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense operations. Organisation The Ministry of Defence does not comment on special forces matters, therefore little verifiable information exists in the public domain.The SNS are under the Operational Command of the Royal War Office and are based in the Stockport Naval Base, Longinus. There are four active squadrons and a reserve unit: *'C Squadron' – responsible for swimmer and canoe operations. *'M Squadron' – responsible for maritime anti-terrorism and ship boarding operations. The Black Group, counter–terrorist team who specialise in helicopter assault are included in M Squadron. *'S Squadron' – specialises in small water borne craft and mini-sub operations. *'X Squadron' – in June 2004 it was reported that a new squadron had been formed from volunteers from the RSS and the 101st Para. This is believed to be the first phase of an expansion of RK Special Forces ordered by the Government because of an increased threat to national security. *'TNS Reserve or TNS®' – provides individual reservists to serve with the regular SNS rather than forming independent teams. Only candidates with military experience will be eligible to enlist. The SNS® are located at locations throughout the Royalist Kingdom, but training is carried out in the South of the Royalist Kingdom. Recruitment, selection, and training Like all Special Operations Forces units that have an extremely intensive and high-risk training schedule. The emphasis is shooting skills, range firing, close-quarters battle (CQB), and stress shooting in a variety of conditions. Information about the unit is mostly highly classified, so little information is available about recruitment and selection. What is known is that the selection and training for the unit has not changed dramatically since its creation. Candidates are interviewed by a review board to deem whether the candidate is suitable to undertake the selection phase.Those who pass the stringent recruitment and selection process will be selected to attend a six- to seven-month Operators Training Course. Candidates will screen with the unit's training wing known as "Green Team." The training course attrition rate is high; during one selection course, out of the original 20 candidates, 12 completed the course. Those who do not pass the selection phase are returned to their previous assignments and unlikely to be able to try again in the future. The SNS's full mission is classified but is thought to include pre-emptive, pro-active and counter-terrorist operations. Candidates are put through a variety of advanced training courses led by civilian or military instructors. These can include free-climbing, advanced unarmed combat techniques, defensive and offensive driving, advanced diving, and Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training. All candidates must perform at the top level during selection, and the unit instructors evaluate the candidate during the training process. Selected candidates are assigned to one of the Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadrons; the others are returned to their previous units.